Autopsies for Tucson shooting spree victims released

Three of the six victim's in the Jan. 8 mass shooting on
Tucson's northwest side were shot in the head, autopsy reports
released Monday show.

The autopsies and statements from surviving victims indicate
each of the 31 rounds investigators say Jared Lee Loughner fired at
a political gathering struck someone in the crowd.

The six people who were killed were hit a combined eight times
and the 13 people who were wounded reported being struck a combined
24 times, a total that includes grazing shots.

Gabriel Zimmerman, Dorwan Stoddard, and Phyllis Schneck died
from gunshot wounds to the head. The other three - Judge John M.
Roll, Christina-Taylor Green, and Dorothy Jean Morris - were shot
in the torso. Stoddard and Morris were shot twice, while the rest
were shot once, the reports say.

The six victims were killed in a Safeway parking lot during a
"Congress on Your Corner" event hosted by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle
Giffords outside the store. Thirteen others were wounded, including
Giffords, who is in a Texas hospital recovering from a gunshot
wound to the head.

Federal prosecutors asked a judge to prevent the release of the
autopsies, saying families of five of the victims objected to the
documents being made public. But a federal judge denied the
request, leaving the decision to the Pima County Medical Examiner's
Office.

Chief medical examiner Dr. Bruce Parks released the reports
Monday afternoon to the Arizona Daily Star and other news outlets
that requested them under Arizona public records laws.

Here's how each of the six victims died:

• Judge John M. Roll, 63, a federal judge: One gunshot
wound.

• Christina-Taylor Green, 9: One gunshot wound on her torso that
struck her heart and kidney.

• Gabriel Zimmerman, 30, a Giffords aide: One gunshot wound.

• Dorothy Jean Morris, 76: Two gunshot wounds.

• Phyllis Schneck, 79: One gunshot wound.

• Dorwan Stoddard, 76: Two gunshot wounds.

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, faces 49 federal charges in the shooting
spree. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to
assassinate Giffords and two of her aides, and faces a court
appearance on Wednesday on additional counts.

Loughner used a Glock semiautomatic pistol with an extended
magazine, also known as a high-capacity magazine, investigators
have said. They found 31 shell casings at the scene.